Bourbon Tales: Jefferson’s Ocean

I think it needs more salt

It started as an experiment. What would happen to bourbon if it was aged at sea? How would it be affected by temperature changes? Or the constant movement of the barrels on the waves? And would the saltiness and brininess of the ocean be embedded into the liquid? Well, it turned out to be liquid gold (according to Mr Pie) and is loved by many.

No matter what you think of the marketing story, this is an absolutely fantastic idea. Aged between 6-8 years on dry land, the barrels are then finished on a journey by sea for between 6-10 months. There are several different voyages now available but each one typically visits 5 continents, stops at over 30 ports, and crosses the equator 4 times.

The next experiment by Jefferson’s was also pretty quirky. They recreated bourbon's first-ever journey. Two barrels of aged bourbon started their journey on a boat from Louisville, Kentucky down the Mississippi river to New Orleans. The next stage was onto the sea via Key West and up the Atlantic Ocean to New York. You can even follow the progress of the journeys on Jefferson’s website blog Ocean Voyages.

Very cool stuff!